HK1118782B - Cigarette box and blank set for the same - Google Patents

Description

Cigarette box and blank assembly therefor

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a cigarette box and a blank set therefor, the cigarette box being used for housing an inner pack, the inner pack having a bundle of filter cigarettes and a wrapping material for wrapping the bundle.

Background

Such a cigarette box often uses a so-called hinge-lid type package, which has a box body and a lid for opening and closing the box body, and is accommodated in the box body, as disclosed in japanese unexamined patent publication No. 5-213340, for example.

Since general persons including smokers are familiar with the above-described package form for a long time, the opening and closing operation of the package is not fresh, and the package lacks visual appeal to arouse the desire of the user to purchase the package.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a cigarette box with a brand-new opening and closing form and a blank assembly thereof, which can enhance the purchasing desire of users.

In order to achieve the above object, a cigarette box of the present invention comprises: an inner case enclosing a circumference of the bundle of cigarettes and having open upper and lower faces; the outer shell, can accommodate the outer shell of this inner shell with freely going up and down, including: a window formed on one side wall thereof to expose a portion of the inner case, the window allowing an operation for lifting the inner case, a hinge cover formed by a portion of an upper wall thereof; a connecting part which combines the hinge cover and the inner shell and is linked with the lifting of the inner shell to open and close the hinge cover.

According to the above cigarette box, the user pushes the inner case with his thumb through the window of the outer case, and can push the inner case upward with respect to the outer case. The hinge cover is upwardly protruded through the connecting portion by pushing up the inner case, and the hinge cover is upwardly rotated and opened. When the user presses down the inner case, the hinge cover is rotated downward in conjunction with the pressing.

This cigarette box provides an opening/closing form and a brand-new appearance which are greatly different from those of a conventional hinge-lid pack, and can greatly enhance the purchasing desire of users.

Specifically, when the hinge cover is opened, the hinge cover bulges out from the upper wall of the outer case, and a take-out port that opens to the side of the outer case is provided. At this time, the hinge cover is positioned at a side wall side position of the outer case or at another side wall side position of the outer case positioned at the opposite side of the side wall.

The above-described take-out opening is opened not to the front side of the outer case but to the side, and therefore the cigarette box is unique in opening form.

The hinge cover preferably comprises: the hinge cover comprises a cover wall forming a part of the upper wall of the outer casing and a pair of guide walls extending from both side edges of the cover wall, wherein the guide walls are sunk into the outer casing when the hinge cover is closed, and protrude from the upper wall of the outer casing when the hinge cover is opened. The guide wall of the hinge cover guides the rotation of the hinge cover, so that the opening and closing action of the hinge cover is stable.

Specifically, the cover wall has an inner portion and an outer portion overlapping each other, and the connecting portion has: an arm portion extending from the inner housing and interposed between the inner portion and the outer portion, and a claw protruding from the arm portion and cooperating with the arm portion to sandwich the inner portion.

The inner case has a bottom wall only in a region below the hinge cover, and when the inner case is pushed up against the outer case and the outlet bulges out from the upper wall of the outer case, the bottom wall pushes up the cigarettes carried on the bottom wall together with the inner case so that the upper ends of the cigarettes appear in the outlet. Therefore, the cigarette can be easily taken out from the cigarette case.

The present invention provides a blank assembly for a cigarette pack, as will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the description that follows.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a cigarette box of an embodiment in a closed state;

fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the cigarette box of fig. 1 in an opened state;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an inner pack;

fig. 4 is a view showing a blank for forming the inner shell of fig. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a view showing the blank of FIG. 4 being brought into a folded state;

FIG. 6 is a view showing the blank being further folded from the state of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view showing the blank being further folded from the state of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view showing the blank being further folded from the state of FIG. 7;

fig. 9 is a view showing a blank for forming the outer case of fig. 1 and 2;

FIG. 10 is a view showing the blank of FIG. 9 being brought into a folded state;

FIG. 11 is a view showing the blank being further folded from the state of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of the lid wall from the inside as seen at section VII of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a view showing the blank being further folded from the state of FIG. 11;

fig. 14 is a view showing a folded state of the blank as viewed from the direction of arrow XIV in fig. 13;

FIG. 15 is a view showing the blank being further folded from the state of FIG. 13;

fig. 16 is a perspective view showing a modified cigarette case.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 and 2 show a cigarette box according to an embodiment.

The cigarette box includes an inner case 2 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the inner case 2 accommodates an inner pack 4 therein. As shown in fig. 3, the inner pack 4 includes, for example, a bundle B of filter cigarettes or cigarettes and a wrapping material W wrapping the bundle B. The wrapping material W exposes the upper and lower portions of the bundle of cigarettes, respectively.

The inner case 2 has an open upper surface and a bottom wall 6 which closes only a part of the bottom surface thereof, and the bottom wall 6 is located adjacent to one side wall 2a of the inner case 2. Thus, the remaining portion of the bottom wall of the inner housing 2 is opened.

The inner case 2 is housed in an outer case 8 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the outer case 8 allows the inner case 2 to be lifted and lowered. That is, the outer case 8 has a side wall 8a opposite to the side wall 2a of the inner case 2, and the side wall 8a is formed with a window 10. The window 10 is located at the center of the side wall 8a as viewed in the longitudinal direction thereof, and partially exposes the side wall 2a of the inner case 2.

A part of the upper wall of the outer case 8 is formed as a hinge cover 12. The hinge lid 12 is located adjacent the side wall 8a of the outer housing 8 and is connected to the remainder of the upper wall of the outer housing 8 via its own hinge 14. The hinge cover 12 can be rotated in the up and down direction about its own hinge 14. As is apparent from fig. 2, when the flap 12 is turned upward, the flap 12 provides an extraction opening 16 that bulges out from the upper wall of the outer case 8, and the extraction opening 16 opens to the side of the cigarette box (the width direction of the cigarette box).

In order to form the above-mentioned take-out opening 16, the hinge cover 12 includes: a cover wall 17 forming a part of the upper wall of the outer case 8, and a pair of guide walls 18 extending from side edges of the cover wall 17. One guide wall 18 is sandwiched between the front walls of the inner case 2 and the outer case 8, and the other guide wall 18 is sandwiched between the back walls of the inner case 2 and the outer case 8. When the hinge cover 12 is rotated upward, the guide wall 18 protrudes from the upper surface of the outer case 8, and conversely, when the hinge cover 12 is rotated downward, the guide wall 18 is recessed into the outer case 8.

The inner case 2 and the hinge cover 12 are coupled to each other by a pair of interlocking coupling portions 20. Fig. 2 shows only a part of the interlocking connection portion 20, but has a function of rotating the hinge cover 12 in the vertical direction in interlocking with the lifting of the inner case 2. The specific configuration of the interlocking connection portion 20 relates to a blank set for forming a cigarette box, and will be apparent from the description below.

According to the above-described cigarette box, the user can push the inner case 2 upward with respect to the outer case 8 and the inner pack 4 by touching the thumb with the side wall 2a of the inner case 2 through the window 10 of the outer case 8. As shown in fig. 2, the hinge lid 12 is rotated upward by pushing up the inner case 2 via the interlocking connection portion 20, and as a result, the take-out opening 16 bulges out of the outer case 8, and the cigarette box is opened.

Since the inner case 2 has the bottom wall 6 only on the hinge cover 12 side, when the inner case 2 is pushed up, only the cigarettes on the bottom wall 6 among the cigarettes in the inner pack 4 rise together with the bottom wall 6, and the upper portions of these cigarettes appear in the take-out opening 16. Therefore, the user can easily take out the cigarettes from the cigarette box.

Thereafter, when the user presses the inner case 2, the hinge lid 12 is rotated downward via the interlocking connection portion 20 by the pressing of the inner case 2, so that the take-out opening 16 is sunk into the outer case 8, and the cigarette present in the take-out opening 16 accompanying the sinking is also lowered together with the inner case 2, whereby the cigarette box is closed as shown in fig. 1.

As is apparent from the above description, when the cigarette box is opened, the hinge lid 12 provides the take-out opening 16 bulging upward of the outer case 8, and the upper portion of the cigarette appears in the take-out opening 16, so that the cigarette box of the embodiment provides a unique opening and closing form and appearance as compared with the usual hinge lid type package, and can greatly enhance the desire of the user to purchase.

Next, a blank assembly for forming a cigarette box will be described, and fig. 1 and 2 are perspective views of the cigarette box viewed from the front side when describing the blank assembly.

The blank assembly comprises two blanks, fig. 4 showing the reverse side of the blank 22 for forming the inner shell 2.

The blank 22 has a plurality of pieces and flaps, and adjacent pieces and flaps are separated from each other by broken-line folding lines.

As seen in fig. 4, the blank 22 has side panels 24, front panel 26 and back panel 28 juxtaposed laterally adjacent one another, the side panels 24 being located between the front panel 26 and the back panel 28, and a bottom flap 30 connected at its lower edge. Inner flaps 32 are connected to both side edges of the bottom flap 30. An inner side flap 34 and an outer side flap 36 are attached to the side edges of the front panel 26 and the back panel 28, respectively.

The front sheet 26 and the rear sheet 28 are provided with extensions for forming the interlocking connection portions 20, respectively, and these extensions will be described in detail below.

The front sheet 26 has a shoulder 26a at its upper edge, and the shoulder 26a extends upward from the front sheet 26. On the other hand, the rear panel 28 also has a shoulder 28a at its upper edge, and this shoulder 28a extends upward from the rear panel 28. The shoulders 26a, 28a are located adjacent to the upper portion of the side panel 24. Arm flaps 38 are connected to the shoulders 26a and 28a, respectively, and the arm flaps 38 extend obliquely upward away from each other. Each arm flap 38 has two fold lines 40, 42, respectively, and these fold lines 40, 42 divide the arm flap 38 into three sections. These parts are called an outer arm part 44, an inner arm part 46, and a leading end part 48 from the shoulder side.

Before the above-described folding of the blank 22, glue is applied to a predetermined portion of the reverse surface thereof, and then the inner case 2 is folded in the order shown in fig. 5 to 8.

As shown in fig. 5, each arm flap 38 is first folded along the fold line 40 so that the outer arm portion 46 overlaps the inner arm portion 44, and these arm portions 44, 46 form the connecting arm 50. On the other hand, the front end portion 48 of each arm flap 38 is folded inwardly along the folding line 42 while forming the connecting arm 50. The inward folding here is to erect the front end portion 48 with respect to the inner arm portion 46, that is, the connection arm 50, and to form the front end portion 48 as a locking claw 52.

On the other hand, the inner pack 4 is supplied onto the side sheet 24 while folding the arm flaps 38, and the inner pack 4 is placed on the side sheet 24. Here, the inner pack 4 has one side surface overlapping the side piece 4, the above-mentioned connecting arm 50 is in a state of protruding from the upper surface of the inner pack 4, and the side piece 24 forms one side wall a of the inner case 2.

As can be appreciated from fig. 5, it must be noted that the height H of the front and rear panels 26, 28, except for the shoulders 26a, 28b, is lower than the height of the inner pack 4, and that the difference in height between the inner pack 4 and the panels 26, 28 allows the inner case 2 to be raised and lowered relative to the outer case 8 and the inner pack 4.

Then, the bottom flap 30 is folded with the left and right inner flaps 32 toward the lower surface of the inner pack 4. The bottom flap 30 is overlapped with a part of the lower surface of the inner pack 4 to form the bottom wall 6 of the inner case 2.

Then, as shown in fig. 6, the left and right inner flaps 32 are folded toward the front and rear surfaces of the inner pack 4, respectively, and are overlapped with the front and rear surfaces, i.e., the bundle of cigarettes, which is the lower portion of the inner pack 4.

The front and back panels 26 and 28 are then folded along with the inner and outer side flaps 34 and 36 toward the front and back of the inner pouch 4, respectively, and overlap the front and back of the inner pouch 4, respectively, as shown in fig. 7. The front and rear pieces 26, 28 form the front and rear walls of the inner case 2, respectively, and at this time, the link arms 50 and the locking claws 52 are in a state of facing each other.

Then, the inner side flap 34 and the outer side flap 36 are sequentially folded toward the other side surface of the inner pack 4, and are overlapped with each other on the other side surface of the inner pack 4 as shown in fig. 8. These side flaps 34 and 36 are bonded to each other to form the other side wall of the inner case 2. At this time, the forming of the inner case 2 is completed. Here, it is to be noted that the inner housing 2 does not have any adhesion to the wrapping material of the inner pack 4.

Figure 9 shows the reverse of a blank 54 for forming the outer shell 8.

The blank 54 also has a plurality of flaps and flaps, and adjacent flaps and flaps are separated from each other by broken lines.

The blank 54 has side panels 56, front panel 58 and back panel 60 which are laterally juxtaposed in a row. The side panels 56 are positioned between the front panel 58 and the back panel 60. The side piece 56 is formed with the window 10, and therefore, the side piece 56 forms one side wall 8a of the exterior case 8.

As seen in FIG. 9, the lower edges of the panels 56, 58, 60 are connected to an inner bottom flap 62, an outer bottom panel 64 and an inner bottom panel 66, respectively. Lateral side edges of the front and back panels 58, 60 are connected with lateral and medial side flaps 70, 72, respectively. A medial flap 68 is connected to the lower edge of the medial flap 72.

On the other hand, a top sheet portion 74 is connected to the upper edge of the inner flap 72, and the top sheet portion 74 extends in the longitudinal direction of the inner flap 72.

The top panel portion 74 is divided into four sections, which are referred to as an outer top flap 76, an outer lid flap 78, an inner lid flap 80, and an inner top flap 82 from the inner side flap 72. A self hinge 14a is formed between the outer top flap 76 and the outer lid flap 78, and a self hinge 14b is formed between the inner lid flap 80 and the inner top flap 82. These self hinges 14a, 14b are shown in double dashed lines in fig. 9.

The end of the inner lid flap 80 on the outer lid flap 78 side has a width gradually decreasing from the outer lid flap 78 to the inner lid flap 82, and both side edges of the end form inclined edges 84, respectively.

The inner flaps 86 are connected to both side edges of the outer top flap 76, and the guide flaps 88 are connected to both side edges of the outer lid flap 78. As is apparent from fig. 9, each guide flap 88 has a side edge having an arc shape and a lower edge extending along the outer contour of the inner flap 86 and surrounding a part of the inner flap 86 from the outside.

Before the above-described folding of the blank 54, glue is applied to a predetermined portion of the reverse surface of the blank 54, and then the blank 54 is folded in the order shown in fig. 10 to 15, whereby the outer case 8 is formed.

As shown in fig. 10, first, top panel portion 74 is folded along the fold line between outer lid flap 78 and inner lid flap 80. The folding here is such that the inner lid flap 80 overlaps the outer lid flap 78, and the inner top flap 82 overlaps the outer top flap 76.

When the inner lid flap 80 and the outer lid flap 78 are overlapped with each other, the self hinges 14a and 14b are aligned as is clear from fig. 10, and therefore, these flaps 78 and 80 form a lid wall 17 of the hinge lid 12 which is a part of the upper wall of the outer case 8. Here, care should be taken not to bond these flaps 78, 80. On the other hand, the outer top flap 76 and the inner top flap 82, which are overlapped with each other, are bonded to each other to form the remaining part of the upper wall of the outer case 8.

The top piece 74 is folded and the inner case 2 is supplied to the inner flap 72. At this time, as shown in fig. 10, one side wall 2a (side piece 24) of the inner case 2 faces upward, the other side wall overlaps the inner flap 72, and the right and left connecting arms 50 of the inner case 2 protrude from the upper edge of the inner flap 72 (the upper surface of the inner pack 4).

Then, as shown in fig. 11, the top sheet portion 74 is folded toward the upper surface of the inner pack 4 in the inner case 2 at the folding line between the top sheet portion 74 and the inner side flap 72. The folding here is such that the lid wall 17 and the rest of the upper wall of the outer housing overlap the upper side of the inner pack 4.

At this time, since the inner lid flap 80 forming the lid wall 17 has the above-mentioned inclined edge 84, the front ends of the left and right connecting arms 50 of the inner case 2 abut against the outer lid flap 78 forming the lid wall 17 avoiding the inner lid flap 80, and are pushed by the outer lid flap 78.

Here, the base end of each connecting arm 50 (arm flap 38) is connected to the corresponding shoulder portion 26a or 28a via a folding line, the inclination direction of the connecting arm 50 and the inclination direction of the inclined edge 84 intersect each other, and since the flaps 78, 80 forming the lid wall 17 are in a non-adhered state, when the connecting arm 50 is pushed in by the lid wall 17, the tip end of the connecting arm 50 is guided by the inclined edge 84 of the lid flap 80 and the connecting arm 50 digs between the flaps 78, 80 while bending. Therefore, as shown in fig. 12, the inner lid flap 80 is sandwiched between the bored connecting arm 50 and the locking claw 52.

As a result, the connecting arms 50 and the locking claws 52 cooperate with each other to couple the cover wall 17 of the hinge cover 12 and the inner case 2 to each other, and these connecting arms 50 and the locking claws 52 become the constituent elements of the interlocking connecting portion 20. That is, when the inner case 2 is pushed up as described above, the cover wall 17 of the hinge cover 12 is pushed up by the interlocking connection portion 20, and thereby the hinge cover 12 is rotated upward around the self hinge 14.

Next, as shown in fig. 13, the pair of inner flaps 86 and the pair of guide flaps 88 of the top sheet portion 74 are folded toward the inner case 2 to be overlapped with the front and rear surfaces of the inner pack 4, respectively. More specifically, as shown in fig. 14, the inner flap 86 is positioned to avoid the inner case 2 and is bonded to the wrapping material of the inner pack at the upper portion of the inner pack 4. On the other hand, the guide flap 88 overlaps the corresponding shoulder 26a or 28a of the inner case 2, but is not bonded to any part of the wrapping material of the inner case 2 and the inner pack 4, and forms the guide wall 18 of the hinge cover 12.

The rear sheet 60, the side sheets 56 and the front sheet 58 are then folded in sequence around the inner case 2. These tabs 60, 56, 58 overlap the back, side and front walls, 2a and 2a respectively, of the inner housing 2, forming the back, side and back walls, 8a and 8a respectively, of the outer housing 8, as will be appreciated from fig. 15.

The inner bottom flaps 62, 68 are then folded toward the bottom surface of the inner case 2 to overlap the bottom surface of the inner case 2. The inner bottom sheet 66 and the outer bottom sheet 64 are also folded in this order toward the bottom surface of the inner case 2, and these bottom sheets 64, 66 are superposed on the bottom surface of the inner case 2 and the flaps 62, 68. The bottom panels 64, 66 are adhered to each other to form the bottom wall of the outer case 8 together with the inner bottom flaps 62, 68.

Finally, the outer side flap 70 of the front panel 58 is folded toward the inner side flap 72, and is overlapped with the inner side flap 72. These side flaps 70 and 72 are bonded to each other to form the other side wall of the outer case 8, and at this point, the cigarette box shown in fig. 1 is completed.

The present invention is not limited to the cigarette box of the above embodiment.

For example, as shown in fig. 16, the hinge cover 12 may be disposed adjacent to the other side wall of the outer case 8. In this case, in the blank 22, the shoulder 26a and the arm flap 38 of the front panel 26, the shoulder 28a and the arm flap 38 of the rear panel 28, and the bottom flap 30 having the pair of inner flaps 32 are arranged at positions indicated by two-dot chain lines in fig. 4, and in the blank 54, the top panel 74 is located at the upper edge of the side panel 56 as indicated by two-dot chain lines in fig. 6.

The interlocking connection portion 20 connecting the inner case 2 and the outer case 8 can be realized by various structural elements instead of the above-described connection arm 50 and the locking claw 52.

Claims (8)

1. A cigarette pack, comprising:

an inner case enclosing a circumference of the bundle of cigarettes and having open upper and lower faces;

an outer housing for accommodating the inner housing in a freely liftable manner, comprising: a window formed on one side wall thereof to expose a portion of the inner case and a hinge cover formed by a portion of an upper wall thereof, the window allowing an operation for lifting and lowering the inner case;

and a connecting part which combines the hinge cover and the inner shell and is linked with the lifting of the inner shell to open and close the hinge cover.

2. The cigarette box of claim 1, wherein,

when the hinge cover is opened, the hinge cover bulges out of the upper wall of the outer case and provides an outlet opening that opens to the side of the outer case.

3. The cigarette box of claim 2, wherein,

the hinge cover is located at the side wall side position of the outer case.

4. The cigarette box of claim 2, wherein,

the hinge cover is located on the other side wall side of the outer case opposite to the side wall.

5. The cigarette box of claim 2, wherein,

the hinge cover includes: a cover wall forming a part of the upper wall of the outer case and a pair of guide walls extending from both side edges of the cover wall, the guide walls being sunk into the outer case when the hinge cover is closed, and protruding from the upper wall of the outer case when the hinge cover is opened.

6. The cigarette box of claim 5, wherein,

the lid wall has an inner portion and an outer portion overlapping each other,

the connecting part has: an arm portion extending from the inner case and inserted between the inner portion and the outer portion, and a locking claw protruding from the arm portion and cooperating with the arm portion to clamp the inner portion.

7. The cigarette box of claim 2, wherein,

the inner case has a bottom wall only at an area below the hinge cover,

when the inner case is pushed up against the outer case and the removal opening bulges out of the upper wall of the outer case, the bottom wall pushes up the cigarettes carried on the bottom wall together with the inner case, so that the upper ends of the cigarettes appear in the removal opening.

8. A blank assembly for forming a cigarette pack of claim 1, comprising:

an inner blank for forming the inner shell,

An outer blank for forming the outer shell,

the inner blank comprises:

front, side and rear panels juxtaposed laterally to one another in a row, adjacent ones of the panels being separated from one another by fold lines to form front, side and rear walls of the inner housing;

a pair of side flaps connected to side edges of the front and rear panels via fold lines, respectively, and cooperating with each other to form the other side wall of the inner case;

an extension part extending from end edges of the front and rear sheets forming upper edges of the front and rear walls of the inner case and forming a pair of extension parts of the connecting part, each extension part having a plurality of regions divided by folding lines,

the outer blank comprises:

a front panel, a side panel and a rear panel which are juxtaposed in a row laterally to each other, the side panel and the rear panel having the window, and the adjacent panels are divided by a folding line to form a front wall, a side wall and a rear wall of the inner case, respectively;

a pair of side flaps connected to the side edges of the front and rear panels via fold lines, respectively, and cooperating with each other to form the other side wall of the outer case;

a pair of bottom flaps connected to end edges of the front and rear panels on the bottom wall side of the outer case via fold lines, respectively, and cooperating with each other to form a bottom wall of the outer case;

a top sheet portion connected to either end edge of the side flap or the side sheet which becomes the upper wall side of the outer case via a folding line, the hinge cover forming a part of the outer case and the rest of the upper wall being formed separately.